UPDATED 5:12 P.M.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden on Friday warned Iran that the United States would “act forcefully” to protect Americans, after the U.S. military carried out air strikes against Iran-backed forces in retaliation for an attack in Syria.
A day after the attack that killed an American contractor and wounded five U.S. troops, which Washington blamed on a drone of Iranian origin, sources said there had been a new missile attack on another U.S. base in northeast Syria.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said it had been ineffective and there were no new U.S. casualties.
Suspected U.S. rocket fire later on Friday targeted new areas in eastern Syria, according to two local sources, with no casualties reported. Pro-Iranian forces in Syria said in an online statement late Friday that they have a “long arm” to respond to further U.S. strikes on their positions.
The violence could further aggravate already strained relations between Washington and Tehran, as attempts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers stalled, and Iranian drones being used by Russia against Ukraine.
Although U.S. forces stationed in Syria have been attacked with drones before, deaths are rare.
“Make no mistake: the United States does not … seek conflict with Iran, but be prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people,” Biden told reporters during a visit to Canada.
Asked whether there should be a higher cost for Iran, Biden replied: “We’re not going to stop.”
The Pentagon had said U.S. F-15 jets on Thursday attacked two facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria, said the U.S. strikes had killed eight pro-Iranian fighters. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the toll.
Iran’s state Press TV said no Iranians had been killed and quoted local sources as saying the target was not an Iran-aligned military post, but that a rural development center and a grain center near a military airport had been hit.
DRONE STRIKE
The U.S. strikes were a response to a drone attack earlier on Thursday on a base near Hasakah in northeast Syria operated by a U.S.-led coalition battling the remnants of Islamic State.
Three service members and a contractor required medical evacuation to Iraq, while two wounded American troops were treated at the base. On Friday, the Pentagon said the injured personnel were in stable condition.
Two U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it appeared that the defensive system on the base had failed.
The Pentagon said the U.S. military had a complete site picture in terms of radar, though one official told Reuters troops on the ground did not appear to have had enough time to react to the drone.
A U.S. base at the Al-Omar oil field in Syria was attacked on Friday morning, according to the Lebanese pro-Iranian TV channel Al Mayadeen and a security source.
It is not uncommon for Iranian-backed groups to fire missiles at U.S. bases in Syria after they are hit with air strikes.
U.S. forces first deployed into Syria during the Obama administration’s campaign against Islamic State, partnering with a Kurdish-led group called the Syrian Democratic Forces. There are about 900 U.S. troops in Syria, most of them in the east.
U.S. troops have been attacked by Iranian-backed groups about 78 times since the beginning of 2021, according to the U.S. military.
While Islamic State has lost the areas of Syria and Iraq it ruled over in 2014, sleeper cells still carry out hit-and-run attacks in desolate areas where neither the U.S.-led coalition nor the Syrian army exert full control.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Doina Chiacu, Orhan Qereman, Timour Azhari, Maya Gebeily, Suleiman al-Khalidi and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Simao, Kevin Liffey and Grant McCool)
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. military carried out multiple air strikes in Syria on Thursday night against Iran-aligned groups that it blamed for a drone attack that killed an American contractor, wounded another and also hurt five U.S. troops, the Pentagon said.
Both the attack on U.S. personnel and the retaliation were disclosed by the Pentagon at the same time late on Thursday.
The attack against U.S. personnel took place at a coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. (1038 GMT) on Thursday, it said.
The U.S. intelligence community assessed that the one-way attack drone was Iranian in origin, the military said, a conclusion that could further aggravate already strained relations between Washington and Tehran.
Although U.S. forces stationed in Syria have been targeted by drones before, fatalities are extremely rare.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the retaliatory strikes were carried out at the direction of President Joe Biden and targeted facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
“The air strikes were conducted in response to today’s attack as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC,” Austin said in a statement.
“No group will strike our troops with impunity.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors the war in Syria, said the U.S. strikes had left eight pro-Iranian fighters dead in Syria.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the toll.
Iran‘s state Press TV, saying no Iranian had been killed in the attack, quoted local sources as denying the target was an Iran-aligned military post, but that a rural development center and a grain center near a military airport were hit.
It said: “A military source in Syria told Press TV that the resistance groups reserve their right to respond to the American attack and will take reciprocal action.”
REPEATED ATTACKS
The drone attack on U.S. personnel caused wounds that, for three services members and a contractor, required medical evacuation to Iraq, where the U.S.-led coalition battling the remnants of Islamic State has medical facilities, the Pentagon said. The other two wounded American troops were treated at the base in northeast Syria, it added.
U.S. troops have come under attack by Iranian-backed groups about 78 times since the beginning of 2021, according to Army General Erik Kurilla, who oversees U.S. troops in the Middle East as the head of Central Command.
Deployments in Iraq, where Iran also holds sway, have also come under drone and rocket attacks in recent years.
Kurilla, testifying to the House Armed Services Committee earlier on Thursday, cautioned about Iran‘s fleet of drones.
“The Iranian regime now holds the largest and most capable unmanned aerial vehicle force in the region,” he said.
Three drones targeted a U.S. base in January in Syria’s Al-Tanf region. The U.S. military said two of the drones were shot down while the remaining drone hit the compound, injuring two members of the Syrian Free Army forces.
U.S. officials believe drone and rocket attacks are being directed by Iran-backed militia, a reminder of the complex geopolitics of Syria where President Bashar al-Assad counts on support from Iran and Russia and sees U.S. troops as occupiers.
The attack came just weeks after the top U.S. general, Mark Milley, visited northeast Syria to assess the mission against Islamic State and the risk to U.S. personnel.
Asked by reporters traveling with him if he believed the deployment of roughly 900 U.S. troops to Syria was worth the risk, Milley tied the mission to the security of the United States and its allies, saying: “If you think that that’s important, then the answer is ‘Yes.'”
“I happen to think that’s important,” Milley said.
The U.S. deployment, which former President Donald Trump nearly ended in 2018 before softening his withdrawal plans, is a remnant of the larger global war against terrorism that had included once the war in Afghanistan and a far larger U.S. military deployment to Iraq.
While Islamic State has lost the swathes of Syria and Iraq it ruled over in 2014, sleeper cells still carry out hit-and-run attacks in desolate areas where neither the U.S.-led coalition nor the Syrian army exert full control.
Thousands of other Islamic State fighters have been detained by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, America’s key ally in the country. American officials say Islamic State could still regenerate into a major threat.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Akriti Sharma and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Himani Sarkar)
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